The military has made extensive use of various simulated targets and target materials in conjunction with its training personnel and the qualifications of various weapon and detection systems. While daylight targets are relatively simple and readily available, simulated target systems proposed for night use are more complex and costly and have not proven to be totally reliable and acceptable. Typically the visibility and distinguishability of targets at night results from their infrared (IR) radiation and the specific pattern of radiation (signature) which these targets emit due to their characteristic temperature distribution. This IR radiation pattern can be remotely detected by appropriate IR sensitive optical devices associated with weapon systems. At the ambient temperatures involved small variations in absolute temperature produce relatively large variations in the flux density of IR radiation. As a result of these considerations, an attempt is made to have the specific pattern of heating of a practice target fashioned so as to simulate the IR radiating flux density distribution (target signature) which would be observed from an actual target. This approach has not proven completely satisfactory for various reasons including the fact that the temperature of the practice target is sensitive to prevailing weather conditions, e.g., wind.